Azoth
'Azoth' The Divine Fire comes in many forms. While Prometheans do not entirely understand its mysteries, they have identifi ed certain states in which it can occur. The most important of those states is Azoth, which they defi ne as refi ned or purifi ed Pyros. Azoth burns within every Promethean; it is what gives him his artifi cial life. Mere fl uid Pyros alone can’t achieve the amazing feat of creating life from death. Only Pyros in its most rarefied form can do that. That form is Azoth. Azoth is associated with the alchemical themes of unification, coagulation and stability, but also as a atalyst to transform something into its more pure form. In these senses, it is sometimes conceived as being a polar opposite of Flux, the chaotic aspect of Pyros that breaks things down. This conception isn’t exactly accurate, just as steam and ice are not opposite versions of water. Yet, this idea does reveal something of the tension between dissolution and coagulation in alchemy, an ongoing (but interwoven) process throughout the entire operation. Azoth does seem to have a teleological goal, a result for which it always strives, regardless of its promethean’s cooperation. This end is Mortality, the most pure state. The force that seems to drive this urge toward purity is not Azoth itself but Elpis, an aspect of Pyros that is rarely manifest, showing itself more as a guiding principle or promise from the future. Elpis is more a conjecture about the Pyros than an actual force that can be wielded. All a Promethean really knows is that something spurs his Azoth toward ever-higher temperatures. Prometheans begin life with one dot of Azoth, bequeathed to them by their maker. Additional dots may be acquired with the expenditure of experience points, or initial Merit dots can be spent to add extra Azoth (see p. 84). ''' Effects of Azoth''' Azoth is a trait rated from one to 10 dots. As the measure of a Promethean’s Inner Fire, Azoth has the following game effects; *Azoth affects a Promethean’s ability to quickly muster the fl uid Pyros within his corpus, governing how many points of Pyros a player can spend in a single turn. Azoth also limits how much Pyros a Promethean can hold within his corpus. The higher his Azoth is, the more Pyros he can store. See the “Effects of Azoth” chart. *Prometheans with Azoth 6 or higher can increase their Attributes and Skills past fi ve dots. The catalyst of the refi ned Fire increases his body’s and his mind’s capabilities beyond the mundane, allowing him to bolster his Mental, Physical and Social capabilities to inhuman degrees. *Azoth calls to Azoth. Prometheans can vaguely sense the presence of other Azoths, depending on the strength of their radiance. See the “Effects of Azoth” chart for how great an area a Promethean’s radiance covers based on his Azoth. The players of other Prometheans within the affected area can make a refl exive Wits + Azoth roll to detect its faint tingling. With a successful roll, the characters cannot pinpoint its source, but they do know it is present. Since Prometheans can see other Prometheans’ disfi gurements, it is usually no problem to single the source out from among a crowd of mortals. *Dampening the Fire. A Promethean can intentionally diminish the amount of radiance his Azoth gives off. He might do so to stymie Pandorans who are searching for him or to keep other Prometheans away, for a dampened Azoth is repulsive to other Created. Once a Promethean dampens the Inner Fire thus, he cannot reverse it for 24 hours. He suffers a -3 dice pool penalty on all rolled social interactions with other Prometheans during that time, but he causes Pandorans to suffer a -3 penalty to tracking rolls when searching for him. (See the “Hunting” sidebar on p. 224.) 'Drawbacks of Azoth' *The higher a Promethean’s Azoth is, the harder it becomes for mortals to resist the Disquiet he exudes. Whenever a mortal’s player would make a Resolve + Composure roll to resist Disquiet, the Promethean’s player also makes a roll, using his Azoth as the dice pool. His successes are contested against the mortal’s, so that the mortal is unaffected only if his character rolls more successes than the Promethean’s does. See “The Disquiet Vector” (p. 168) for full details. *A Promethean’s Azothic radiance precedes him. The higher his Azoth is, the greater the vicinity in which its radiance spreads around him. Since this radiance is what awakens Pandorans from their Dormancy, it can prove to be very dangerous for the Promethean, as it awakens creatures well beyond his immediate senses. See “Azothic Radiance” (p. 222). <<<< BACK